In agriculture, work vehicles, especially tractors, are used for different tasks, for example, for soil cultivation, the spreading of materials, such as seeds or fertilizers, on a field, for harvesting or for transport operations. Accordingly, different devices are coupled with the work vehicle, such as plows, sowing machines, fertilizer spreaders, baling presses, mowing devices, installed forage harvesters, or transport trailers. The work vehicles are therefore equipped with one or more interfaces, on which various devices can be affixed. Such interfaces can comprise a trailer coupling for the coupling of, for example, a transport trailer or a baling press, a rear three-point linkage on the back of the work vehicle, and/or a three-point linkage on the front side of the work vehicle, which are used to affix devices which are not hooked on with a tow bar, for example, mowing devices, forage harvesters, fertilizer spreaders, sowing machines, or plows.
In mounting the devices, the work vehicle has to first be moved to a suitable position with respect to the device. Subsequently, the couplings are to be adjusted in such a way that connecting elements between the work vehicle and the device can be closed. Finally, there is the closing of the connecting elements, so as to implement a temporary hooking of the device on the work vehicle. In the state of the art, these steps are carried out from an operator worksite of the work vehicle. Accordingly, the operator first drives the work vehicle to a suitable place in the vicinity of the device and then adjusts the coupling with respect to the work vehicle, in that he activates input elements, situated on the operator worksite, to control external power actuators for the adjustment of the coupling. Finally, there is the locking of the device on the coupling, which is carried out by remote control from the operator worksite, or directly on site, with a manual intervention on the part of the operator. It is not simple for the operator thereby to arrive at the correct position of the coupling, with respect to the device, from the operator worksite—in particular, if a direct view is not possible, as with front three-point linkages. Often, therefore, the operator must get off his operator worksite, so as to look at the interface, and then after returning to the operator worksite, undertake appropriate inputs to control the actuator. As a result, the hooking on of the device is very time-consuming in many cases.
Arrangements have already been proposed, in which additional input elements to influence the position of couplings and to select a transmission ratio, including a neutral position of a power shift PTO transmission, are placed on a rear fender of the work vehicle. Here, the operator is at the back of the work vehicle when he activates the additional input elements, which is not always optimal from a security viewpoint.
Furthermore, wired or wireless remote controls for agricultural work vehicles have been proposed, with which the operator can control, among other things, a hydraulic power lift and a PTO shaft. Here, a remote control that is specially tailored for the work vehicle is provided, which has proved to be relatively expensive with the not excessively high number of items for agricultural work vehicles.